How To Fix USB Drive Not Showing Up

  

How to  Fix a USB device not recognized  

USB is an extensively adopted technology that allows us to plug lots of devices into our computers every day. Although it’s quite easy to set up, sometimes it’s not all plug-and-play.

Although it's not easy to determine the exact reason why your computer won't recognize the USB stick, there are various solutions you can try until it works again.

 

Reason Why a USB drive not showing up

•    Check for cracks on the USB stick.

The flash drive may have been damaged without your knowledge, so check it physically before trying again.

• Verify the status of your USB device

Your USB stick should ideally switch on immediately when you connect it to your computer, with flashing lights on the device to show activity. Some devices require you to physically turn on the physical power button or dedicated power line before your computer can recognize them.

•   Try connecting to a different USB port or computer.

Try connecting the USB stick to a different computer or USB port after unplugging it from the present port and computer. The USB port could be broken or dead, or the machine could be having difficulty if it functions on the new USB port or computer.

 

·      Restart your computer.

Try restarting your computer—it's a simple but frequently effective solution. Sometimes it can resolve a short-term problem.

 

There are still choices available if you've exhausted simple troubleshooting steps to get your USB flash drive to appear. How to make your USB drive appear is shown below.

·      Reinstall USB Controllers

You might need to replace the drivers for your USB drive if it won't operate and neither will any other USB devices.

• Right-click Start>Device Manager and click on the Universal Serial Bus controllers to expand the list.

• Right-click your device and click Uninstall, and then restart your computer to reinstall the controllers automatically.

 

·      Troubleshoot Drivers

Device Manager can be used to diagnose driver problems, particularly if your USB stick is detected by a computer other than the one you're using, which indicates a driver issue.

• Right-click Start>Device Manager.

• Expand Disk drives and check for a yellow exclamation point next to any of the listed devices. If there’s one or more with this mark, then the device(s) has a driver issue.

• Right-click on the problematic device and select Properties to see the related error message. You can search for the error online to find a solution to the problem

You can also try the following solutions to resolve driver issues:

• Roll back the driver to revert to recent driver updates and restore the device back to a time when it was functioning properly.

• Download drivers from the device manufacturer’s site from the downloads page, support page, or by searching on the site for the right driver.

• Update the driver by right-clicking on the driver in Device Manager, select Update driver, and following the prompts.

• Uninstall the device from your computer, restart it and wait for it to reinstall the right driver and configurations.

 

•    Keep Your Operating System Up to Date

If you use Windows, updating the operating system will include crucial files that support various hardware and devices in addition to remedies for any faults you could see.

• Open Settings > Update & Security.

• Click Check for Updates.

Before attempting your USB stick once more, download any pending updates and restart your computer.

 

·        Use Device Manager to scan for changes.

• Right-click Start and select Device Manager.

• Click Action > Scan for hardware changes.

Windows will try to find your USB stick so you can access it again.

 

·      Use Disk Management Tool

This program determines if Windows will recognize your USB stick. Additionally, it displays every hard drive that is connected to your computer, allowing you to study details like partitions, sizes, and more.

• Plug in your USB stick and right-click Start > Disk Management. 

• Check for your USB stick under primary or secondary disks. If it doesn’t contain partitions, it’ll appear as Removable.

• If you see it in the Disk Management utility, you can create a new volume and assign a drive letter. This way, you can partition or format the flash drive to make it easily detectable by other devices, including your PC.

• If your USB drive is not showing up, it could be a driver or hardware issue, or the drive is dead.

 

·        Create a New Drive Volume & Assign a Drive Letter

You can establish a new drive volume and assign a drive letter if your device was listed in the Disk Management stage. Problems with file systems and partitioning on various disks are fixed with the Disk Management utility.

 

·        Create New Partitions

You won't be able to view your USB drive in Windows File Explorer if the drive letter matches one of the drive letters on your computer's hard disk partition. In this situation, you must give your USB drive a new drive letter.

To create new partitions on the USB drive:

 Right-click This PC and choose Manage > Disk Management.

Right-click the unallocated space and choose New Simple Volume.

Follow the wizard to finish the remaining process.

Your USB drive should now show up in Windows as usual. You can copy the files you recovered to your USB if you want.

·        Assign a New Drive Letter to the USB

Right-click This PC and choose Manage > Disk Management.

Right-click the volume on your USB flash drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

In the window that opens, click Change.

Assign a new drive letter to your USB drive and click OK.

 

 

·        Disable USB Selective Suspend Feature

This power-saving setting limits the amount of electricity your USB stick receives when it's plugged in, which helps preserve your battery. Disabling this function will prevent power management settings from overriding the USB controller and preventing Windows from detecting your disk, ensuring that it isn't turning off for any reason.

• Click Start>Control Panel and select Hardware and Sound.

• Click Power Options>Change plan settings.

• Click Change advanced power settings.

• Click Change advanced power settings.

• Go to USB settings and expand it. 

• Click USB selective suspend settings and change the Plugged in drop-down menu to Disabled (Note: If you’re using a laptop, click On battery and change to Disabled in the drop-down menu).

• Click Apply>OK and restart your computer to effect the changes.

As a final option, you can replace your USB stick if everything else fails, but only if the disk is already damaged.